1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to recreational vehicles and will have specific but not limited application to a travel trailer having a rear wall which houses an extendable or slide-out room.
2. Related Background Art
Slide-out rooms or comparts in travel trailers, motor homes and the like have become increasingly popular. The slide-out rooms allow for increased usable space when the vehicle is parked and are retractable to accommodate length limitations while in transit.
These moveable room portions usually include a floor, a roof, a side wall and one or more end walls. In the retracted positions, the roof and side walls are typically concealed from exterior view and the room end wall forms a portion of the vehicle's side wall. At the same time, the floor of the moveable portion of the room typically rests above the floor of that portion of the room which remains fixed, and may form a portion of the usable interior floor during vehicle transit. Similarly, the ceiling of a moveable roof portion may define the interior ceiling of that part of the vehicle during transit.
The moveable frames used to support these slide-out rooms need to be kept in alignment relative to the fixed frame of the recreational vehicle in order to ensure that the moveable frame extends and retracts smoothly. Unfortunately, because slide-out rooms are heavy and rather cumbersome, the rooms are liable to twist slightly as they are extended or retracted which causes the room to bind or get stuck, thus damaging the room, the support system or the hydraulic cylinders typically used to move the room. Therefore, in order to prevent these problems, complex alignment and synchronization mechanisms have been developed. These mechanisms add significantly to the cost of a recreational trailer and complexity of construction.
Therefore it is an object of the invention to provide a slide-out room that can be extended and retracted easily without binding or twisting. It is a further object of the invention to provide a slide-out room that can accomplish the above using an efficient, relatively inexpensive and simple design. It is a further object of the invention to provide a frame for a slide-out vehicle that is supported both below the room and at an upper end of the room.